Serum soluble transferrin receptor concentrations in US preschool children and non-pregnant women of childbearing age from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2003-2010

摘要

Background: Serum soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR) is recommended as a sensitive and accurate measure of iron deficiency (ID) in populations when only a single indicator can be used. The lack of assay standardization and of representative data on the distribution of sTfR in at-risk populations currently limits its utility. Methods: Using data from NHANES 2003-2010, we examined the distribution of sTfR and developed assay-specific cutoff values for defining elevated sTfR in 2 US populations groups: children aged 1-5. y (n=2820) and non-pregnant women aged 15-49. y (n=6575). Results: On average, children had higher geometric mean sTfR concentrations (4.09. mg/l; 95% CI: 4.04-4.14) than non-pregnant women (3.31. mg/l; 95% CI: 3.26-3.35) (p<0.001). Among children, those aged 1-2. y (compared to those aged 3-5. y), boys (compared to girls), and non-Hispanic black (NHB) children (compared to non-Hispanic white (NHW) and Mexican-American (MA) children) had higher sTfR concentrations. Among non-pregnant women, adolescents (15-19. y) had higher sTfR concentrations than adults aged 20-34. y but not compared to adults aged 35-49. y; NHB women (compared to NHW and MA women) and multiparous women (compared to nulliparous women) had higher sTfR concentrations. The derived cutoff values (97.5th percentile in a defined healthy reference population) for defining elevated sTfR in the US were 6.00. mg/l for children 1-5. y and 5.33. mg/l for non-pregnant women 15-49. y. Conclusions: A different sTfR cutoff value may be needed in children and non-pregnant women to define ID.